Hitman (Series)
Hitman is a stealth game genre series developed by the Danish company IO Interactive and was published by Eidos Interactive until 2009, where they were bought out by Square Enix Europe. Many feared, due to this take over, that the series would be dropped. These suspicions were later dropped after Square Enix announced on 6 May 2011, with a teaser trailer, that the series would live on with their new game, Hitman Absolution. The series is available on PC as well as several video game consoles, excluded Hitman: Codename 47, including the Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. The game series has since expanded into a novel, Hitman: Enemy Within written by William C. Dietz, and a Hitman film adaption starring Timothy Olyphant and Dougray Scott which was loosely based on the storyline of the series. Video Games The series first started off with the release of Hitman: Codename 47 in 2000 (2002 for Australia and 2003 for the EU). The game had slightly different mechanics to that of its sequels and was released only for the PC. Its sequel, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin was released in 2002 for Xbox, PC and PS2 with a Gamecube edition being released a year later. After this, in 2004, Hitman: Contracts, a loose remake of the original game set as a series of flashbacks, was released for the PS2, Xbox and PC and ultimately, not released for the Gamecube. The final game released by Eidos Interactive was one of its more famous, Hitman: Blood Money, released for Xbox, Xbox 360, PC and PS2, with the 360 version including Achievements. In 2011, Hitman: Absolution was confirmed to be in production and development by Square Enix Europe and IO Interactive respectively. Its release date has been annouced for 2012. Gameplay The core objective in each level is to kill assigned targets (usually multiple and sometimes additional targets as an optional bonus). In most cases, 'Hitman' allows the player different options to accomplish this task. Players can perform precise assassinations or slaughter indiscriminately in order to achieve the mission goals; however, the games reward a subtle approach by awarding special weapons or cash bonuses if players earn a favourable rank (usually achievable by eliminating only the assigned target, and without raising the alarm doing so). 47 can also wear a variety of disguises (such as repairmen, police officers and waiters) to fool enemies and gain access to restricted areas. The focus of 'Hitman' is not hiding in the shadows from the enemy, but rather blending in amongst them. It is up to the player to initiate the violence, since guards do not usually open fire unless provoked. In every game, the player character, 'Agent 47', has limited maneuverability; he cannot jump, scale walls, or mantle up ledges (there are a few pre-scripted places where he can jump from one balcony to another, but these are very rare). This generally limits the player to a single plane of movement, although he is often presented the opportunity to move to higher or lower areas through the use of ladders, stairs, elevators, or hills. 47 is given the ability to hop over minor obstructions in Blood Money, and can also climb up certain edifices (such as fencing, vines, loose bricks, crates etc.). There is also the option of climbing onto the top of elevators through the hatch, allowing the player to strangle a victim from above. A major feature in the game is the 'tension' meter, detailing how much attention the player is receiving from the public or guards and is dependent on many things. For example, walking around in a guard's uniform with the correct corresponding gun won't gather much notice, whereas running around in a waiter's uniform in a restricted area while carrying a visible weapon instead of an appetizer tray will result in an unwanted confrontation with the guards. In most cases, 47 is required to hide any dead bodies, to prevent alarm. This is made easier in Hitman Blood Money, with the introducion of more advanced body hiding areas e.g. 47 can hide a body in a place such as a garbage dump/rubbish bin. Many targets in the Hitman games can be assassinated without firing a single shot; this style of gameplay became more prevalent in 'Blood Money', where the focus was to make some of 47's hits look like accidents. Accidents can be caused remotely with RU-AP mines acting on some (usually heavy and suspended) object, directly by pushing someone over a railing, and by other, more elaborate methods such as: *Replacing a blank firing weapon that would be used in a play with a live-round firing weapon. *Crushing a man's neck using weights during his morning workout. *Rigging a grill to set a victim on fire or to explode. The second game of the series, 'Silent Assassin', enforced the concept of kills without firing more than a single shot. As per the number of gun shots fired and stealth used, ratings were given after every mission. The best of these was Silent Assassin indicating no more than 1 gunshot per target (and a guard) with no alerts raised. Reception and Fan Follow-on The series has received overall positive reviews, aside from the odd controversial objection, with most titles after the original receiving high review scores of over 80 on average review sites such as Metacritic and GameRankings. HitmanForumis fan product of the series, created by ampburner, where fans go to discuss opinions, experiences and various other things including technical difficulties, behind the scenes access and to make friends.